Music
18 Dec 13

Harry Hill and Julie Walters talk ‘The Harry Hill Movie’

Delightfully absurd and unashamedly silly, the madcap comedy was fantastic fun to make.

Julie Walters, dressed as a grandma in the wig Helen Mirren wore in The Queen, goes on a road trip with Harry Hill and an ailing hamster whose dying wish is to see Rihanna. Harry misinterprets this and thinks the hamster wants to go to the top of Blackpool Tower, and on their adventures to the seaside down they’re stalked by Matt Lucas as Harry’s evil twin.

“Bonkers is a good word to describe it,“ laughs Walters.

The surreal comedy, in which spontaneity and strangeness go hand in hand, was great fun to make. “It was very free-flowing and easy-going” says the award winning actress. “It’s a very funny movie…it goes across the age groups; everyone will enjoy it.”

“It’s a family movie,” agrees Harry Hill. “I think kids will particularly enjoy it because they really liked TV Burp and You’ve Been Framed. If you like either of these shows you’ll enjoy this. It’s kind of its own world. It’s the kind of film that hasn’t been released in this country for a while. When I say this country, I mean your country as well. It’s a good one for Christmas because it’s uplifting and silly and perfect for a cold, wintry Boxing Day.”

Another wonderfully bizarre creation from the BAFTA-winning comedian is already in the pipeline. Harry’s forthcoming production, I Can’t Sing! – The X Factor Musical, is loosely based on a certain Irish pop impresario.
“We don’t call the character Louis Walsh, we call him Louis,” says Hill. “He does share some things in common with Louis Walsh in that he’s an older man and used to manage a Irish boy band called Shamrock Lifestyle. He’s always urging the whole of Ireland to vote for his boys. There are these two Irish kids who are in a new boy band, and they’re not a million miles away from Jedward to be honest.”

Harry’s plans for 2014? “My immediate plan is to get the musical off the ground. We start rehearsing on the 6th of January so I can’t really see far beyond that. To be honest, I’m keeping my options open. I really hope the film does well because I’ve already started writing a sequel.”

Read the full interview in the latest issue of Hot Press